Giant Ghost
The Giant Ghost, also known as Skull Lord, is an enemy in the Castlevania series. It is a skull transformed into a giant ghost by exposure to the castle's magic. Description A ghost taking the form of a giant skull. It attacks by erratically approaching the player, occasionally pausing before delivering a fast, dashing bite. Appearances ''Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse First appearance of this enemy in the series, although not yet identified as an individual entity. Instead, Death will adopt this form on the second phase of his boss fight, where he transforms into a giant, phantasmagorical skull that floats in a circular manner across the room while slowly displacing to the left. Once it reaches the edge, it will reappear from the right side following the same pattern. After a fixed period of time, the skull will launch a single scythe at the player, lighting itself from the inside and bursting in laughter as it does so. Castlevania: Rondo of Blood The Big Ghost makes an impressive introduction midway through the first section of Stage 3', where the screen suddenly stops scrolling and it slowly emerges in the distance, soon arriving to the player's location. It's a phantasmagorical aberration with three eyeballs —two in their respective eye sockets and a third on its forehead— and attacks by hovering around the screen while three smaller Phantom Skulls circle around it. It then slowly homes toward the player attempting to inflict physical damage with its massive size. It can't be harmed by any normal means other than by attacking the eyeballs themselves. Fortunately, each one can be destroyed in a single hit, but due to the ghost's movements and size, this fight can be either extremely easy or considerably difficult, depending on the player's skill and current sub-weaponry. If playing as Richter, bringing the Axe, Cross or Dagger are all good choices. If playing as Maria, Seiryuu is definitely the best option, as a single dragon can destroy all three eyeballs if aimed properly. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night The Skull Lord makes an impressive appearance in ''Symphony of the Night, enriched by the various innovative effects provided by the then new PlayStation system, like a huge sprite size, detailed design, enhanced color palette and impressive lighting effects. It appears in the Clock Tower and the Reverse Keep, and is usually seen among other smaller Phantom Skulls. It is specially weak to Holy, however, and if Alucard managed to get his hands on the Holy Rod beforehand, he may even destroy the Skull Lord in a single hit, depending on his stats. ''Castlevania Legends In ''Legends, the Skeleton Head floats out of reach and charges to attack when Sonia's back is turned. ''Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance The "Skull Lord" version of the Giant Ghost, first seen in ''Symphony of the Night, can be found lurking in graveyards among many other smaller Ghosts. This time around, it has a ghostly blue aura around it, much like its smaller counterparts. In addition, the Giant Ghost's dead skull from Rondo of Blood can be found in a background of the Skeleton Cave. ''Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow In this version, the Giant Ghost has been reinstated with its third eyeball from ''Rondo of Blood and also fashions a fiery aura around it. Otherwise, it attacks in the exact same manner as in other versions. ''Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin The Great Ghost from ''Portrait of Ruin is actually a hidden enemy and defeating it is required for completing Wind's "Ghosts of the Desert" quest. Only one appears in the entire game and the only hint the player has to find it says that "there is a room in which many ghosts gather". To find the Great Ghost, the player must go to the rightmost-bottom room of the upper right area in Sandy Grave, where many Ghosts appear, and stay there killing every Ghost that comes in sight until the Great Ghost finally appears. It's worth mentioning that the requirement for this quest can be fulfilled even before starting the quest itself; the player may kill the Great Ghost first, and when they talk to Wind to start the quest, it will be already completed. ''Castlevania: Order of Shadows The Giant Ghost is initially encountered floating in midair and then it starts flying directly toward Desmond (instead of making pauses and short lunges like in other games) as soon as it detects him. It is considerably resilient, so casting a powerful spell is recommended in order to dispatch it quickly. Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth Like in ''Legends, the Skull Lord will charge at Christopher when his back is turned. However, it will still move even if Christopher's facing it, although with reduced speed. ''Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night Item Data Gallery RoB Three-Eyed Skull.JPG|'Giant Ghost''' from the Japanese Rondo of Blood instruction booklet HoD 013.png|'Large Ghosts enemy list entry from ''Harmony of Dissonance Harmony of Dissonance - Giant Ghost - 02.jpg|Background of the Skeleton Cave in Harmony of Dissonance with the Giant Ghost's corpse from Rondo of Blood AoS 020.png|'Giant Ghosts enemy list entry from ''Aria of Sorrow DXCGiantGhostScene.png|'Giant Ghost' cutscene from The Dracula X Chronicles Dxc 050.png|'Skull Lords enemy list entry from ''The Dracula X Chronicles version of Symphony of the Night Trivia *In Symphony of the Night, the Skull Lord found in the Reverse Keep doesn't have eyes, unlike the one found in the Clock Tower. *The particular way of attacking of the Skeleton Head in Legends is very similar to the Boo enemies from the Mario franchise, which are ghosts that stand still high above while facing them but quickly home toward the player as soon as they turn their back against them. *In Aria of Sorrow, the Giant Ghost is one of the only two enemies able to deal Dark damage (the other is the second form of Chaos). See also *Ghost *Skulls Category:Dark Enemies Category:Flying Enemies Category:Ghosts Category:Skeletal Monsters Category:Adventure ReBirth Enemies Category:Aria of Sorrow Enemies Category:Dracula X Chronicles Enemies Category:Encore of the Night Enemies Category:Grimoire of Souls Enemies Category:Harmony of Dissonance Enemies Category:Legends Enemies Category:Portrait of Ruin Enemies Category:Rondo of Blood Enemies Category:Symphony of the Night Enemies